A Michigan judge has thrown out a criminal case against 15 GOP activists who falsely claimed to be Donald Trump’s presidential electors in 2020, despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
Lansing-based Judge Kristen Simmons ruled that state prosecutors failed to present enough evidence that the false electors intended to commit fraud and that the ringleaders of the fake elector scheme — lawyers like Rudy Giuliani and Kenneth Chesebro and even Trump himself — were not the ones on trial.
GOP activists in seven states won by Biden in 2020 attempted to submit false Electoral College certificates claiming Trump had prevailed in their states. The effort was part of a multifaceted scheme by Trump and his allies to subvert the 2020 election, in part by stoking a controversy on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Congress was legally required to count electoral votes to certify Biden as the winner.
Simmons’ ruling is the latest to characterize the individual electors as pawns or dupes, acting at the behest of more senior leaders who were privy to the broader scheme. Giuliani, Chesebro and other organizers of the effort continue to face criminal charges in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin.
The outcome in Michigan may bode poorly for prosecutors in Nevada, who have also charged the six false electors for Trump in that state with committing fraud. They have similarly argued that their actions were taken at the behest of Trump campaign lawyers, who told them submitting the false certificates was an important part of preserving Trump’s legal challenges to the election results.
Only one of the pro-Trump false electors has been convicted of any crime. Lorraine Pellegrino, who cast a false vote for Trump in Arizona, pleaded guilty to charges she faced last year. Ten allies who acted falsely as pro-Trump electors continue to face charges in the state.
The existence of false electoral slates became a crucial flash point ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. Trump used their existence to lean on then-Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly block Biden’s election. He urged Pence to cite the competing slates to halt the electoral vote count and send the matter back to the states to relitigate.
Pence rejected the gambit, saying it would be illegal and unconstitutional. His decision, announced on the afternoon of Jan. 6, sent Trump supporters — gathered in Washington at Trump’s behest — into a rage, fueling the breach of the Capitol, where Pence and lawmakers had gathered.
Many of those who cast false electoral ballots for Trump were tapped again in 2024 to cast legitimate electoral votes after Trump prevailed, even as they faced criminal charges.
